Among four teams at the West Regional semifinal, Arizona regularly plays at the highest level. The Wildcats' home court in Tucson is 2,389 feet above sea level, while KU's Allen Fieldhouse sits 843 feet above the water line.

Home for Syracuse is 406 feet above sea level in Syracuse, N.Y. Georgia toils in Athens at 775 feet.

Regardless of common perception, KU players had no chance of acclimating to high altitude after arriving Wednesday. It takes two weeks to fully come to grips with Denver's atmospheric pressure, Potteiger said.

"The old theory about going a couple days ahead of time doesn't hold much weight," he said.

He cracks up whenever athletes run to the oxygen tank for a fill during football games at low altitude.

"I always laugh at Chiefs games," he said. "You could only make an argument for using them at high altitude."

It'd be a breath of fresh air for KU fans if the Jayhawks sucked up more of the tournament atmosphere and had a gas in Denver.